Forget Elvis: Steve Jobs Impersonators Take Center Stage [Video]

It looks as if just about every expat in Asia with a black turtleneck and some specs is working as a Steve Jobs impersonator.

The video above is of another random guy in China parading around a stage as Jobs in a commercial where he hawks snacks as iPads. Or iPad snacks. Or something.

An earlier one, for a tea company, was pulled from YouTube shortly after making a splash. It also follows a Taiwan politician dressing up as Jobs for a campaign.

These are becoming so common — in Asia, at least — I hear from pseudo-Steve Jobs spotter Dan Bloom more frequently than I hear from my own dear mom. (I know, I know, I’ll call her later.)

Bloom explains: “The new TV spot — just 15 seconds long — was made before the resignation letter was released and planned at least two months ago when it was shot in a Taipei studio for a local snack company called Vedan Enterprise Corporation.”

One wonders if they proliferate because the “costume” is so simple: black turtleneck, specs, jeans (with some wonky high-wasted jeans subbing for the signature Levis here) and bam! for all intents and purposes, you’re Steve Jobs.

Deals of the Day

This ad is for packaged ”pumpkin seeds” in Taiwan, a snack to eat whiledrinking beer at a roadside noodle stand or while noshing on stinky tofu orcentury eggs, aka pi dan.

Ableman

by the way, re the design logo for the Pumpkin Seed firm that sells these snacks in the locals 711s etc: The Brand Concept of Qia Qia foods is:Vision: a world-renowned brand built world-class enterpriseMission: to spread joy and create delicious taste of foodSpirit: unity and dedication of innovation beliefsTo meet the needs of customers for the eternal pursuit, and through a little bit of hard work to make our first class the food industry, is committed to the “contact contact – the taste of happiness” spread around the world. Social ResponsibilityWe serve the country and of science and technology industry, responsibility, bigger and stronger national enterprises;The development of our business to contribute to social well-being;The prosperity of our motherland, for the revitalization of the nation, the well-being for themselves and their loved ones to fight.interestsContact contact benefits from society, return to society;Qiaqia advocated by factors of production methods to the customer / employee and investor community of interests between the firm and achieve common prosperity. Some people say it in the cool sound of the grinning smile; Some people say it is a beautiful girl gently picked up favorite Pearlshell; some say that it is confident of OK; Some people say that … … After a decade, everyone has a consistent contact.Course of ten years of wind and rain, now Qiaqia shine in the international arena, swimming freely in the capital market.Today, contact contact more stylish, more fun, more dynamic. World-renowned Chinese designer Alan Chan tailored to Qiaqia new visual image. Brand identity design system for re-interpretation, with the trend of the times and with the main elements of the brand leads the fashion design project, happy, innovative, dynamic, Chinese elements unique brand DNA.

Taipeier

World-renowned designer Alan Chan tailored to Qiaqia new visual image. Brand identity design system for re-interpretation, with the trend of the times and with the main elements of the brand leads the fashion design project, happy, innovative, dynamic, elements unique brand DNA.

The Eyes Have It

By the way, how many Steve Jobs lookalikes can there be in Taipei? Is this the same guy with a bitof different make up on, or is he another Jobs doppelganger teaching English in some kids after-school English cram school for cool money so he can travel around Thailand next year? Maybe there’s a Steve Jobs Lookalike School of Drama in Taiwan now, where expat newbies come to find work? Or does every white guy just look like Steve Jobs to Taiwanese eyes?

Haimish

By the way, Nicole, the woman in this ad who follows the faux Steve Jobs in the 15 sec. commercial is a Taiwanese woman hired to look like the chairwoman of HTC ……Cher Wang, HTC’s co-founder. Ms. Wang was recently photographed taking a leisurely gander at Apple’s wares, with her husband Wen-Chi Chen — who just happens to be CEO of VIA Technologies — tagging along as well during a recent Palo Alto shopping trip.

So this advert is a two-fer: a fake Jobs and a fake Cher Wang. (How she got the name Cher is beyond me, maybe from Sonny and Cher or just from the French “cher”……. o mysterious Taiwan, land of the faux super CEOs….

Ad Exec Taipei

Ron in th USA, who lived in Taipei for a long time, and has a very good eye for expats there, asks,re the resemblacne between the guy in the earlier tea drink advert and the guy in the current pumpkin seed ad: ”Isn’t ….this ….same the same person?”long answer short: could be, might be, sure looks like it, but cannot confirm, so until confirmationcomes in, cannot answer the question. but sure looks like same dude, hairline and all. could very well be. might even be. I mean, how many Steve Jobs lookalikes can there be among the expat population in Taiwan? One? Two? My guess would be one. So it’s very likely the same dude working on a new modelling gig. Let’s see if he surfaces for a third time. That’s the only way to confirm, shortof getting it straight from the horse’s, er, mouth, er, agent.

Fairgame

Apple chairman shilling pumpkin seeds in Taiwan2 September 2011 180 views 3 CommentsSteve Jobs doppelgänger guy is back and he’s skinny as ever. However, this time around he’s selling fragrant pumpkin seeds, which are a lot tastier than you might imagine — I once ate a whole bag (there was a typhoon and all the shops were closed).Anyway, Qia Qia Fragrant Pumpkin Seeds are a Wei Dan product. Who are they? A Taiwanese foobev conglomerate.Why the heck would they be using a Steve Jobs look alike to sell pumpkin seeds? Well, maybe they need a little of Steve’s magic as their image has suffered in recent years following the discovery of excessive industrial solvent concentrations in the Qia Qia Pumpkin Seeds sold in China. Really.Do you know how toxic something has to be before officials in China or Taiwan will act upon it? Yeah, it can be scary (Simplified Chinese).Thereupon, the last time we saw Steve Jobs doppelgänger guy he was shilling bottled tea for Taiwan’s President Group, yet another Taiwanese foobev conglomerate. However, aside from excessive use of corn sweetener, there’s nothing toxic about President Tea…

Dan Bloom

Fairer Platform posts this tidbit too: and worth investigating

”……this time around he’s selling fragrant pumpkin seeds, which are a lot tastier than you might imagine — ……Anyway, Qia Qia Fragrant Pumpkin Seeds are a Wei Dan product. Who are they? A Taiwanese foobev conglomerate.Why the heck would they be using a Steve Jobs look alike to sell pumpkin seeds? Well, maybe they need a little of Steve’s magic as their image has suffered in recent years following the discovery of excessive industrial solvent concentrations in the Qia Qia Pumpkin Seeds sold in China. Really.Do you know how toxic something has to be before officials in China or Taiwan will act upon it? Yeah, it can be scary (Simplified Chinese).